The police already had to deal with jersey burning, a fan climbing a billboard, and multiple arrests for disorderly conduct. This pandemonium is all because the New York Knicks are on their path to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. Tonight, Mike Brown’s team sparked a 22-point comeback in the final quarter, making it the NBA’s greatest postseason comeback. Naturally, the supporters flooded the NYC streets, so law enforcement was extra vigilant.

As the New York Knicks progress deep into the 2026 NBA Postseason, Times Square became a hubbub of energy as fans took to the streets after the win. But since passion often leads to unruliness, authorities were deployed to control such situations. On Tuesday night, we saw a prime example of this.

The Instagram page NewYorkers, with 1.2 million followers, was conducting regular post-game fan interviews. They came across a rather enthusiastic fan.

“I would die for the Knicks, boy! We’re taking the finals this year, let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” he yelled at the camera. Right afterwards, he started jumping with excitement, and others had joined him as well. To contain this burst of energy right there, an officer intervened. He tried to cover the interviewer’s lens and snatch the camera away from the creators mid-broadcast while the crowd aggressively chanted “Let’s go Knicks!” in the background.

A similar situation transpired last year as well.

The New York Knicks were in the Conference Finals last year, too. In April 2025, a viral video captured the NYPD locking horns with a prominent New York street DJ. He had been playing “Mo Bamba” by Sheck Wes in honor of the win, which had hundreds of fans jumping. But within seconds, a squad of officers physically cut through the crowd and abruptly snatched the speaker equipment.

But instead of being reprimanded for noise violation or being booked for a routine citation, the fan was explicitly threatened with charges of “inciting a riot”.

One could say the police are being overly protective. During the run that the Knicks have actually been on, the streets of New York have seen every kind of activity that fans aren’t supposed to do.

New York Knicks fans take over the streets

In the first round series against the Atlanta Hawks, the ‘F— Trae Young’ chants were already loud. But one person took it further by burning the jersey of the former Hawks guard. That video went viral last month, and the officers had to step in. He quickly picked up the jersey and threw it away from the crowd to de-escalate the hostile fan gathering.

Just last week, one overly enthusiastic fan scaled a massive commercial billboard structure overhanging Seventh Avenue to lead chants. NYPD emergency units wasted no time climbing the infrastructure, physically tackling the fan, and bringing him down. Even tonight, there were fights happening on the streets of New York after the Game 1 win over the Cavaliers.

A similar crowd also infamously mobbed and nearly trampled franchise legend J.R. Smith as he was celebrating the New York Knicks’ Game 1 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

One situation leads to another when thousands of supporters are out on the street. And, as the age-old saying goes, it’s always best to nip the problem in the bud, before it festers beyond control.